Starting Pitcher Power Rankings: The best of playoff hopefuls

5:09 AM UTC

We are this close to postseason baseball, so for this iteration of Starting Pitcher Power Rankings, we decided to get in the playoff spirit. 

These rankings will only include starting pitchers on teams who have already clinched a playoff bid, or those still in contention. We've taken injuries into consideration, too, which is why you won't see , who is on the shelf with a balky left shoulder. 

A number of dominant starting pitchers seized the spotlight last October, from the ever-poised Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the fiery Tarik Skubal to the brilliant Blake Snell. Who might follow in their footsteps over the next five weeks? 

Below you'll find the latest Starting Pitcher Power Rankings, as voted on by a panel of MLB.com experts. 

All stats are through play on Tuesday unless otherwise noted.

1) , Brewers (Last poll: 1) 
It’s only fitting that Milwaukee set a new franchise single-season wins record with Misiorowski on the bump, albeit in an abbreviated outing, on Sunday. There is nothing more for Misiorowski to prove here: He has occupied the top spot of these rankings for seven consecutive polls, dating back to mid-June. The 24-year-old leads qualified starting pitchers in everything, from ERA (1.86) to opponent’s batting average (.180) to strikeouts (247). Speaking of, here’s some intrigue for Misiorowski’s final start of the year this weekend: He’ll look to become the fourth pitcher in the last six years to cross the 250-strikeout plateau, joining Spencer Strider (281, 2023), Gerrit Cole (257, 2022) and Garrett Crochet (255, 2025).

2) , Yankees (2)
We’re all eager to see what sort of encore Schlittler has in store for the postseason, on the heels of his coming out party against the Red Sox last fall (consider us intrigued by the possibility of a rematch, too). But before we look ahead, let’s look back. The 25-year-old has been nothing short of fabulous in his first full big league season, pitching to a 1.94 ERA that ranks second best among qualified starters. Schlittler’s recipe for success is as simple as it is effective: He relies heavily on his trio of fastball shapes, throwing fastballs at the highest rate (89.3%) of any starting pitcher.

3) , Braves (3)
We are running out of ways to describe what Sale is doing in his age-37 season, because it is simply remarkable. The left-hander is throwing harder than he has since his rookie season in 2010, and harder than nearly any starting pitcher his age has in the pitch-tracking era. Sale struck out 10 Reds on Wednesday night to reach 200 K's for the ninth time in his career, breaking a tie with Steve Carlton for the second most by a left-hander in MLB history behind Randy Johnson (13). 

4) , Dodgers (8)
In each of the last two years, Yamamoto has teed up his October brilliance with a stellar regular-season stretch run. That seems to be the case once again in 2026. Entering his start on Wednesday against the Padres, Yamamoto has pitched to a 1.98 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break. It is exceptionally difficult to string together any sort of offense against Yamamoto: His .180 batting average against is third lowest in the Majors behind Misiorowski and Toronto's Dylan Cease, while his 0.87 WHIP trails only The Miz.

5) , Dodgers (10)
For all of the hoopla that transpired when L.A. acquired Skubal at the Deadline, we have not quite seen the two-time defending Cy Young winner at his absolute best in Dodger blue. Through nine starts with his new club, Skubal has a 2.95 ERA (143 ERA+) with 60 strikeouts in 55 innings. But the power left-hander is a different animal in the postseason, with a 2.04 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings from 2024-25. Will we see that sort of utterly dominant, swashbuckling Skubal next month? It would be silly to bet against it.

6) , Rays (9)
Rasmussen climbed the hill at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night with the Rays needing one skinny win to clinch the AL East title. He did exactly what we’ve come to expect, meeting the moment with one of the finest outings of his seven-year career. Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, ultimately settling for 6 2/3 frames of one-run ball. He punched out 11 Yankees and tossed 114 pitches, a single-game career high, while spurring Tampa Bay to a celebratory 6-1 win. Remarkably, the Rays have won each of Rasmussen’s 12 starts since the All-Star break.

7) , Phillies (5)
Sánchez crossed the 200-inning plateau for the second consecutive season by tossing 6 1/3 frames of two-run ball in his most recent outing Sunday against the Mets. He’s the first Phillies left-hander to throw 200 innings in back-to-back seasons since Cole Hamels, who did so five straight years from 2010-14. In an era of pitching that encourages wide pitch arsenals and tinkering with new pitch shapes, Sánchez has kept things remarkably simple. A sterling changeup and heavy sinker are responsible for a 58.1% ground ball rate that ranks fifth highest among all qualified pitchers.

8) , Yankees (not ranked) 
A recurring left elbow bone bruise has limited Fried to just 20 starts this season, in the second year of a seven-year contract he signed in December 2024. Otherwise, though, the veteran left-hander is doing what he always does. Fried uses a robust seven-pitch mix to keep hitters off balance and limit hard contact. He has allowed just seven barrels -- the optimal contact for a hitter, in terms of exit velocity and launch angle -- all season, running a 2.2% barrel rate that ranks in the 98th percentile of MLB. His cutter has been particularly wicked, limiting the opposition to a .169 batting average. 

9) , Guardians (7) 
Perhaps we aren’t talking about Messick’s sublime rookie season enough, because look at the sort of company he is in. The funky left-hander has a 2.55 ERA through 31 starts. No rookie pitcher has had an ERA below 3.00 while making at least 30 starts since Doc Gooden, who took the world by storm with the Mets in 1984. On Tuesday, Messick allowed one run over five innings at Fenway Park, marking the 15th time this season that he has completed five innings while allowing one run or fewer.

10) , Phillies (not ranked)
Wheeler’s season reached its nadir on Aug. 24 when the Mariners tagged him for eight runs – and four home runs – across four bewildering innings, extending a troubling string of starts. But a month has made all the difference. With the postseason looming, Wheeler is back to looking like his usual self. He’s gone 4-1 with a 1.71 ERA across his last five starts, allowing just one home run in that span. On Tuesday, the righty set a Phillies franchise record when he struck out the first seven batters of a 6-4 win over the Brewers.

Others receiving votes: Gavin Williams (Guardians), Sonny Gray (Red Sox), Blake Snell (Dodgers), Jacob deGrom (Rangers), Payton Tolle (Red Sox), Logan Henderson (Brewers), Ranger Suarez (Red Sox), Hunter Brown (Astros), Nick Martinez (Rays), Carlos Rodón (Yankees), Tyler Mahle (Braves), Tyler Glasnow (Dodgers), Gerrit Cole (Yankees), Michael King (Padres), Shota Imanaga (Cubs), Sean Burke (White Sox), Nick Pivetta (Padres)

Voters: David Adler, Jared Greenspan, Brent Maguire, Max Ralph, Manny Randhawa, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Andrew Simon